ACT FIVE
by Treegirl4
Summary: 4 months after the hysteria that gripped Salem in 1692 has finished, Elizabeth Proctor takes care of her baby girl. A chance visitor reveals the moral conflict of the play.


Practice SAC

_The most significant divisions in any community are not caused by moral conflict but by animosities, insecurity and greed_

Statement of Explanation:

I have chosen to write a creative piece in the form of an additional scene to Arthur Millar's play The Crucible. This scene is a conversation between Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend John Hale, and takes place some months after the death of John Proctor and the end of the hysteria that gripped Salem in 1614. My piece explores the prompt by challenging the statement that 'the most significant divisions in any community are not caused by moral conflict but by animosities, insecurity and greed'. Hale's statements to Elizabeth reveal the extent of his own inner conflict and guilt in his role in the execution of the innocent. While he recognizes the impact of animosities, insecurity and greed, he stresses the conflict was due to a clash between what is right and what is evil. Elizabeth's responses reinforce the concept of what is morally right in her defense of her husband. My purpose is to consider the broad ideas of the prompt (moral conflict, animosity, insecurity and greed) in relation to the text, specifically referring to characters whom I think embodied the 'moral conflict' of the play. I drew on the text, in particular Act 4, for the views and the conflict of the characters I have explored. I have used the language of the time and refer to the evils in Salem as the 'true witches' to further link my piece to the original text. My intended audience is people who are interested in or studying The Crucible.

ACT FIVE

_The Proctor's common room._

_ The room is dark and cold. The fireplace is set, but remains unlit. _ELIZABETH _is sitting at the table, staring at the wall where_ JOHN PROCTOR's _gun leans idly. Cobwebs are gathering around the base of it. In _ELIZABETH_'s arms, a baby cries softly. She bends her head and looks at it, her face blank, and brings it to her breast. The child suckles softly. _

_ There is a quiet knocking on the door and _ELIZABETH_ starts. She gets to her feet, the baby clutched to her chest_.

ELIZABETH: Who's there? [_She backs away as if in fear. The baby begins to cry again; a sniffling that quickly builds to a wail_]

[_The door is slowly pushed open._ It is MR HALE. _He is even more haggard than at their last meeting- his clothes ragged with travel, his face drawn and exhausted, his eyes dark with sorrow_]

HALE: Goodwife Proctor, forgive me, I did not intend to alarm you.

ELIZABETH: [_staring- she cannot believe it is him_] Mr. Hale. I- I did not expect you this evening.

HALE: Aye, or any evening. I have been gone some months from Salem.

ELIZABETH: And few thought you to return.

HALE: [_eyes flickering to the child at her chest_] How is your child?

ELIZABETH: She is well.

HALE: And the others? The boys?

ELIZABETH: They miss their father.

HALE: [_nodding, as though his sadness has come down to rest heavily on his shoulders_] Aye. That you should be left to raise them alone-

ELIZABETH: [_moving to the table. She gestures Hale to take a seat opposite her_] Please.

HALE: [_hesitates, but his weariness prevents his standing much longer_] Thank you.

ELIZABETH: [_with an air of getting to the real business of things. She speaks more plainly than before_] Why do you return to Salem? The trials are over; those who would not confess have hung.

HALE: I know it.

ELIZABETH: Then what do you hope to achieve?

HALE: [_evading, looking around the cold, sparse room_] How do you manage alone, Goody Proctor?

ELIZABETH: Rebecca's Samuel helps me with the babe and the boys. Francis Nurse visits me often. Giles Corey's sons give me anything they can spare from their farm. We get by, Mr. Hale.

HALE: As you must.

ELIZABETH: Those who are left, who have- lost someone. We help each other.

HALE: [_looking at her seriously. His voice barely more than a whisper_] But you shouldn't have to.

ELIZABETH: [_turning her face away- she refuses to show the true extent of her suffering_] It is the way things are, sir. The way Salem has been, in the months since you left.

HALE: [_leaning forwards now- he is desperate for her to understand_] I left out of shame, Woman. I am ashamed of my part in the events that happened here. I convicted good people of witchcraft. I sentenced Rebecca Nurse to hang. [_He is disgusted with himself and cannot go on_]

ELIZABETH: [_her tone is scathing_] You left once. And you returned. Returned to counsel the condemned to confess. To lie.

HALE: [_very quietly, unable to meet her gaze_] And still I do not know if in doing so I helped or hindered them. [_He brings his eyes up to hers- they are burning with regret_] I murdered those people, Goody Proctor. I murdered them as surely as if I had tied the noose around their necks myself. [_He is losing control of himself now- tears escape as he puts his head in his arms on the table. All the misery that has haunted him in the days following the trials and deaths is heaped upon him, and is drowning under it_]

ELIZABETH: [_softening_] You worked to save them. You did what you thought was right.

HALE: [_shaking his head in disgust_] No, no. No. I did what I thought was right in coming to Salem. I wished to bring God's faith, to spread the goodness of his holy word to all you peoples. And instead- instead I killed them. [_He is becoming agitated now, his voice growing in volume_] I let myself be guided- be manipulated!- by those who were seeking only their own gain. I acted for God; they acted for reward. Land! Property! Status! Greed, Goodwife Proctor. Greed and hatred. Those were the true witches in Salem. [_He collapses again on to the table, head buried in his arms_]

ELIZABETH: [_speaking softly, more to herself than to_ HALE] Aye, the true witches in Salem. They burned this village like the fires in Hell. And we who are left- for us there is nothing but regret and sadness.

HALE: [raising his head] I trust you have heard the news of Reverend Parris?

ELIZABETH: [_breaking out of her reverie- she looks at Hale with measured disdain_] I hear little news here. I have stopped attending church. Indeed I hear few will go to Reverend Parris' sermons anymore.

HALE: He is left- gone without a trace.

ELIZABETH: [_thoughtful once more_] And so another instrument of evil has gone. [_to _HALE] Judge Hathorne has also left Salem.

HALE: And Danforth?

ELIZABETH: I know not where he goes, but he does. After they- hung Rebecca, and the others still refused to confess. [_She sees how the very mention of Rebecca pains Hale_] She died a saint, Mr. Hale. She is with God now.

HALE: [_hesitatingly_] And your husband?

ELIZABETH: [_the words lifting her up out of her intense misery, for a moment she shines with the light of true conviction_] I meant what I told you the day my husband died, Mr. Hale. My husband died a good man. Let God judge him how he will, but in the eyes of myself, and of the friends he refused to betray- John has his place in Heaven.

HALE: [_looking at her in something close to awe_] I shall inconvenience you no longer. I wish to visit Francis Nurse tonight. To offer- my condolences.

ELIZABETH: Fair travel to you, Mr. Hale.

[_He stands, awkwardly running his hand over his face. _ELIZABETH_ stands also, and watches as he walks to the door, opens it, and steps out into the cold night air. The door closes behind him. _ELIZABETH_ sits as before, staring at the empty fireplace. She looks down at her daughter, now sleeping peacefully_]

ELIZABETH: [_very quietly_] It were partly due to me that your father died. [_her expression is pained_] My own… self doubt, it lead him to lechery. To find heat in a house so cold. [_She looks again at the fireplace.] _Lack of trust, lack of faith- another of the witches in Salem.

[_She stands suddenly, walks to the fireplace, takes a match, and strikes it. The tiny flame lights up her face- she suddenly looks more alive_.]

He has his place in Heaven now. [_She throws the match into the fireplace. It alights, setting the room aglow._] And we- we have survived.

THE CURTAIN FALLS


End file.
